Boat construction



Jung 20, 1933.

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yJune 20, 1933. E. GRAY BOAT CONSTRUCTION l Filed Feb. 24,1951

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v.Patented June 20, 1933 UNITED STA-TES PATENT OFFICE EDWARD GRAY, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR T0 EDWARD GRAY, ENGINEER, ENQ, 0F DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN BAT CQNSTRUCTIQEQ' .application flied February 24, i931. Serial No. 517,875.

A further object ot' the invention is to ineke a strong, tight and seaworthy craft in which all the seams are Welded and a smooth exterior hull construction secured, the longitudinal stringere acting as the spacing members for the plate which has been cut to longitudinal strips to form a planking.

rihe invention further consists in the arrangement and combination of the various parts which go to make up a complete boat hull, as more fully hereinafter described and shown in 'the accompanying drawingsyin Which- "Figure l is a plan View oid a boat huilt 1 in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 a side elevation thereoi Fig. 3 a ktransverse section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig 4 a peispective view of the after-part of vthe hull showing the 'same in section to sliow the interior construction;

i Fig. 5 an enlarged view showing in detail the niet-hed of weiding the parts together, and

Fig. 6 a niodied construction et lap seam. loint. J As shown in the drawings, indicates the ireel., B the stein, C the transom of a boat. D are the ribs which are cut out jEroin ordinary plate or bar stock and butted against the lieei, in the nena-i practice of boat building.

Ti are the garboard stralres on opposite sides of the keel A 'which projects siiiciently below the ribs to permit the upper edges of the stralres to butt against the keel to form a convenient joint fonwelding the strakes together. The ribs D are spaced apart a suiiicient distance to form, along with the stein, keel, and transom of the boat, the 'Orin on which the metal plate or lanking can be i built up :from the keel to t e gunwale, beginning with the garboard strakes E after which thelongitudinal stringers F are put i G5 in place between the ribs and permitted to proect slightly below the same so that the next longitudinal plates or planking G may abut against the same to form a proper Welding' seam which can be lled up ush with the Welding material E. The plating or pianking With alternate longitudinal strips 1s continued in this manner and the boat hull huilt lip-until the covering board H is reached 'y and the null closed in@ lt will thus he seen that as each longitudinal plate is bent or laid up on the form the short sections of the longitudinal stringere are interposed between to form a shoulder 'for the next adjacent plate to butt up against and at the same time form a suitable joint for Welding, which may be filled up with the Welded material to form an integral section an-d can voe ground oil to form a smooth joint; all the joints in the entire hull being Welded,

that is, the ribs to the plate, the longitndinai string-ers to the ribs, and t0 the adjacent plates respectively, the stringers forming the spacing medium :tor the plates as the boat is planlred up, suficient Welding material being used to nil up all the joints iush'.

it is apparent that with a construction et this litind, the entire boat may be readily built from stock material which may be cut out as required for use, no special stock being re-J quired other than that ofproper strength and thickness, the plates not being difficult to bend to the form of the hull and thereby `dispensing with the necessity or" rolling or forging the piatcs to form from a templet as in ordinary iron or steel 'ship-building1 The construction is such that a boat may be built along these lines with an acetylene torch for cutting the plates from stock sheets and a Welding apparatus to Weld the plates to the ribs, keel and stringers, as the boat is being built up plate by plate, from the keel up the longitudinal stringere being interpose as desired to forni the necessary Welding seams and to strengthen the hull as required.

it will thus be seen that with an iron or metal hull constructie/n of this kind, it is possible to build a verystrong' hull at a minimum expense from stock sheets of met-al, requiring no special plant equipment as in the ordinary metal Shipyards now in use, and that by reason of using the welded joints at all points where a seam occurs, a very strong and tight hull is secured, the extruded'metal at the welded joint along the seams in the longitudinal plating of the hull being afterwards ground or polished oft' to form a perfectly smooth joint.

Another advantage of thisconstruction is thatv the keel and frame work of the hull formed by the ribs, deck, beams and transom make a form uponwhich the boat-'can be conipletely plated,`.these parts themselves formling an integral part of the boat. structure which would not have to be reinoved'as in the ordinary practice of boat building where Wooden forms are used, thus eii'ecting a saving in this regard. U

In Figure 6', I have shown a modified construction of lap seam joint in which the a ljacent plates I are spaced apart by the projections J struck up from the lap seam meniber K. The projections J are used merely to space the adjacent plates I and extend into the'space only enough to serve this purpose. Likewise, in the construction shown in Figures l to 5, the longitudinal members extend into the spaces between adjacent plate members only enough to be engaged and spaced thereby. No substantial surface engagement of the longitudinal members by the plates is necessary and in fact is not desired, inasmuch as it reduces the area oi the surfacesv exposed 'for welding.

It will also be understood that the joints herein disclosed, although shown and described in connection with boat building, are also capable of general usage as in the construction of Walls, bulwarks, water gates and the like.

Although specific embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described it will be understood that various alterations in lthe details of construction may be made without departing from the scope of the iiivention as indicated by the appended claims.

What I claim is tween adjacent plates.

' 2. The method of building a boat bottom including the steps of laying a keel member to extend from opposite sides thereof, securing ribs transversely of said keel member to extend from opposite sides thereof, placing the edges of two bow-to-stern plate members partially into contact with opposed surfaces of said keel member and in contact with the lower surfaces of said ribs, such that said keel member spaces the plate members apart and partially fills the space therebetween, filling the remainder of said space by arc welding, laying longitudinal members against the remaining edges of said plate members to partially cover said edges, laying additional plate members against the outer surfaces of said longitudinal members, such that their edges are partially covered by saidsides and said longitudinal members serve to space adjacent plate members apart without filling the space therebetween, and filling the remainder of said spaces by arc'welding.

3. The method of building a boat bottom including the steps of laying a keel member, securing ribs transversely Iof said keel inember to extend from opposite sides thereof, welding longitudinal stringers in sections to and between said rib members, and welding bottom bow-to-stern plates to the lower edges of said ribs and Stringer sections in the spaces defined thereby.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

EDWARD GRAY.

1. A boat bottom comprising a longitu.- dinal keel member, unitary ribs secured to posite directions thereof, longitudinal stringers secured toand between said ribs 'and extending substantially parallel to said keel member, plates inserted between said longitudinal members engaging the lower surfaces ofsaid ribs, said plates extending continuous1 ly and integrally from bow'to stern adjacent Vplatesliaving.their confronting surfaces partially in .contact with opposed surfaces of said longitudinal members to be spaced tlhere- .opposite sides thereof and extending in op- 

